W202 Centre bearing rubber surround perished

[EdGasket]

I have been getting knocking sounds from under the centre consol when pulling away and when putting max power through the drivetrain. The front flex disc has been replaced and the rear looks OK. On wiggling the prop shaft and looking along the heat shield from the back, it looks like the propshaft centre bearing has parted company with its rubber surround.
I would like to know:

1) How long can I continue to drive it in this state; seems to run fine apart from knocking sometimes in first gear? Will this damage the prop if I continue to use it?
2) Has anyone tried an on-car repair using Polyurethane Adhesive Sealant to patch up the rubber surround?
3) The four fixings on the heatshield underneath the bearing look rusted out. Is it of to leave that heatshield off or if not any ideas on how to re-attach the heatshield assuming the fixings are toast?
4) Any idea how much a centre bearing job would cost to have done? Looks like the exhaust has to be dropped and a bit of a PITA job all round as I have to work outside and the car is an Esprit which means it is lowered and difficult to get under even on car ramps.

 

[grahamcol]

One of my 202's had the exact same problem and my Indy changed the centre bearing and rubber mounting for about £250 some 3 or 4 years ago. Dropped car off at 9 and was ready before 11. I guess it might be closer to £300 now to have sorted.

 

[brianbrian]

I would only drive it gently to garage for repair, other wise it could do a lot of other damage.

 

[LostKiwi]

^^^

This. I had a propshaft let fly at 60 on a motorway and was lucky it didn't punch a hole all the way through the floor (it put a big dent in it and partially penetrated the passenger compartment.

 

[EdGasket]

Yes, she is resting up until I can try fix listed in 2 above; going to try Tiger Weld which people have used to fix engine mounts . If that doesn't work then it will have to be a bearing change.

Can anyone who has done this job tell me:
1) Can you just pull out the rear section of the propshaft leaving the front part on the car?
2) If I take a couple of exhaust mounts off and let the exhaust lower a little, will that give enough clearance to remove the propshaft without having to disassemble the exhaust?

Cheers,
Ed

 

[umblecumbuz]

Reckon you're on a hiding to nothing there.
The old adage 'Do it right, do it once' comes to mind.
Especially in light of Lostkiwi's experience above.

 

[daibevan]

I'd take the cost of the tiger weld and the labour/agrivation it will take to try it off the cost of doing it properly.

 

[LostKiwi]

Ed,
The propshaft is two piece but to all intents and purposes its a balanced unit so should be treated as a single piece if replacing it. If you split the shaft then mark the parts so you realign it correctly.
If you bodge it it will never be as good as doing it properly. The propshaft is spinning at engine rpm or more when cruising on motorways. Thats a lot of energy and potential for problems.
A new aftermarket propshaft bearing and mount isn't expensive - only £30 on eBay - why mess around bodging it?

 

[EdGasket]

Someone on Youtube went to the extent of removing the entire propshaft and found everything in order except for torn rubber around the centre bearing. They repaired it with 3M Window Weld and said thats all it needed and the prop didn't need to be taken off the car to do that repair.

Why try it? Because its cold outside, difficult to get clearance underneath, even more difficult to split the exhaust on my back with no room to move; don't know if I even have the strength to get the exhaust back on if I took it off! I'll let you know if the Tiger Weld works (should be same stuff as the 3M Window Weld); it only needs to stop excessive movement of the centre bearing and even a new one allows for quite a bit of movement.

If anyone could actually answer my questions about doing the job it would be most helpful:

1) Can you just pull out the rear section of the propshaft leaving the front part on the car?
2) If I take a couple of exhaust mounts off and let the exhaust lower a little, will that give enough clearance to remove the propshaft without having to disassemble the exhaust?
3) The four fixings on the heatshield underneath the bearing look rusted out. Is it of to leave that heatshield off or if not any ideas on how to re-attach the heatshield assuming the fixings are toast?

 

[ajlsl600]

not sure on benz, on ford there is a bolt ,washer in the middle of the yoke one a
end holding the assembly together ,you might if same be able to split it there. or find a breaker who can offer you a good used one so you can see whats going on and if need be change the bearing assly on that

 

[EdGasket]

So today I removed the heat shield (4 small nuts - easy), centred the prop shaft in the rubber support by using wood between the shaft and a bracket going over the top of the exhaust, and then using nitril gloves, covered the torn rubber with Tiger Seal both sides. See pictures of the finished bearing. Not the neatest of jobs but with the exhaust in the way, the only way to get the black stuff on there is by using your finger. I am leaving it 48hrs to set as the weather is so cold. Will see how long it lasts; if it gets me through the winter I'll be happy.

 

[daibevan]

Hope it works for you.

 

[EdGasket]

Happy to report that the centre bearing rubber 'fix' is holding up well and is good and strong but with a little 'give'. Using the Tiger Seal is like 'poly bushing' the centre bearing. I'd say if your bearing is OK and only the rubber has perished then its worth doing this.

Still getting the odd strange knocking but not feeling it directly under the console anymore:

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/i...ng-noise-from-rear-when-turning-right.165794/